The £8million-a-year salary makes that hair shirt slightly more comfortable. And surely if management is as grim as he claims, why would he want even more of the same when his contract expires at the end of the season?

He admits: “Because I am a specialist in masochism!

“But also because I believe this job has allowed me to get to the next level as a human being, to develop my strengths in what makes a person great.

“To get the best out of other people is absolutely fantastic.

“Of course you have disappointments along the way, with people and with results.

“But it is a marvellous opportunity to improve and invent yourself, to push your limits further up and not to have an average life.

“It is a very demanding way to live but also very interesting.

“You must be ready to face the challenges while accepting in a realistic way what you have to do to get better. It’s what all competent managers try to do. But, yes, it consumes your life.”

Wenger, brought up as a practising Catholic, knows that for many managers of his age, the spirit may be willing but the flesh is often weak.

Yet that has never been a problem for him as he continues to pursue a spartan lifestyle which includes a punishing exercise regime.

He claimed: “You have to be physically and mentally fit.

“I run every day and I still play football.

“If we have a game at the end of the season, I will play as a winger and you can be full-back. And I think I will win!”

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But Wenger’s immediate challenge is convincing his faltering Arsenal team that they can still achieve big things this season.

The Gunners are still reeling from last month’s chastening defeats at Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

And they could drop to sixth place in the Premier League table if they lose again at Liverpool on Saturday.

Arsenal have not won away in the league against any of their top-six rivals since a 2-0 triumph at Manchester City in January 2015.

Wenger acknowledged: “We have not done well in these kind of games recently, so the result at Anfield will have vital consequences for the rest of our season.

“It is the kind of opportunity we want to go out and take. We can’t sit back and wait for the result to come to us.

“Games against Liverpool are always high intensity and very competitive.

“Anfield is a special place, where the fans are behind their team and the game is always played at a good pace. We have had a two-week break since our last game so it is important to switch on quickly.

“That is not always easy, as Liverpool showed against Leicester the other night.

“After a break, you lose a bit of the rhythm of the competition, so it is vital for us to start strongly on Saturday.”